


Some Kind of Clever

by Yasunori



Series: In the Ruins Universe [4]
Category: Dir en grey, Jrock, MUCC, the GazettE
Genre: Alpha/Alpha, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Consensual Sex, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Post-Apocalypse, Sexual Content, Smut, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 10:22:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6750067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yasunori/pseuds/Yasunori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tatsurou can be quite dense sometimes. Being new on the island gives him other things to think about, and it takes a stormy night to push him in the right direction.</p><p>Post-apocalyptic alpha/omega side fic to In the Ruins, following the others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Kind of Clever

Tatsurou was very amused, He sat on the stairs of the big house with Tora on his lap, watching Miya fidget while Masa tried to cut his hair.

“Sit still! I swear, you’re worse than Tora when he doesn’t want to sleep,” Masa complained, almost snipping Miya in the ear with the scissors as the alpha turned his head.

“Oh yeah? Well, that’s because he’s not even three months old yet, he can’t move around much anyway. If you stopped tickling me I would be fine!” Miya muttered as his mate tried to turn his head the right way for the hundredth time.

On the stairs, Tatsurou snickered at the couple’s bickering, happy to see Masa finally out of bed for real. The omega was doing much better since his close call when Tora was born, and the baby was growing like a normal boy should. He looked down at the baby in his arms when he made a little noise and flailed his left arm, the same while stuffing his right fist into his mouth. The nurse smiled at the baby and tickled him lightly on the belly, making cooing noises.

“You look pretty at home there.”

Tatsurou nearly jumped at Kaoru’s voice, startling him. The alpha chuckled as he came up from behind, closing the front door behind him and moving to sit down next to the nurse. He reached out with a tattooed arm to awkwardly pat the baby’s head, and Tatsurou smirked a little.

“And you don’t,” he teased. Kaoru gave a half smile at that.

“Can’t say I have that much experience with babies. Never had one around or wanted to get one myself.” He glanced at the alpha next to him, comfortably holding the baby. “How about you?”

“If I have experience or if I want one, you mean?” Tatsurou asked, raising an eyebrow at Kaoru’s question.

The alpha shrugged. “Both, I guess.”

Tatsurou looked down at the baby, currently slobbering all over his fist while pulling his own hair. He smiled a little and gave Tora a quick kiss to the head.

“I have experience, some from work but mostly from my friend’s kids. But do I want one? Nah, I’m ok with holding one now and then, and then I can hand it back when it starts crying. Besides, I already got to name this one, and isn’t that the fun part?” He grinned a little at that, but noticed Kaoru looking a little relieved. Curious, he cocked his head at the alpha. “Why do you ask?”

“Just making conversation. I just thought, well, I don’t know much about you. Like, where you’re from, what you like, if you have someone special in your life, all that stuff.” Kaoru kept his gaze firmly on the bickering couple on the lawn instead of at Tatsurou, but there was something weird about the completely disinterested way he was asking pretty personal questions. Tatsurou didn’t know what to think, but let it go and just shrugged.

“Well, I’m from a little town to the north that no one’s ever heard of, and it doesn’t exist anymore, so that’s that I guess. I used to like music and reading, but well, not much of that around anymore until we can find more books. So now I like my job, helping people. And I like animals, and watching the lake early mornings when it’s still misty. I suppose I’ll have to figure out more things to like from now on.” He paused, watching the alpha through the corner of his eye. Kaoru still didn’t look at him or give any indication that he was listening, but what the hell, he had asked, so Tatsurou continued.

“No special someone though. I don’t know, maybe that’s a good thing. It’s hard being two when you’re on the road, a lot of worry.”

They sat in silence for a minute, before Kaoru suddenly got up and took a step up the stairs. Almost as an afterthought, he stopped for a second, one step behind Tatsurou.

“You’re not on the road anymore,” he said quietly, before he took the last step and quickly went back inside. The nurse gaped, turning his head to look after the alpha. What was that all about? Had Kaoru heard talk of someone saying they liked him or something? But if he had, it was a weird way to go about saying it. He frowned, completely nonplussed, when Tora suddenly decided he was hungry and let out a loud wail, taking all of his focus.

. . . . .

“So how did you end up here?” Tatsurou asked one morning, looking at Kaoru over the breakfast table. They were the only ones still eating. Tatsurou was having a slow morning and Kaoru had worked late the evening before.

“I came up here straight after what happened,” the alpha said, “with Toshiya and the guys.”

“So who was in that group then? Toshiya, you, Die… Who else?”

“Oh, let me see. It was us three, and Kai and Uruha, and their kid of course. Aoi, Yukihiro, Yukke, Kyo, Asanao and Akinori... And then the unmated omegas, Subaru, Cazqui, Kuina, Kei and Yo-Ka. Then we picked up a few on the way, both alphas and omegas.”

Tatsurou nodded. It must have been safer to travel in a larger group. He hadn’t had any friends or family around that day, he had only just moved to a new town a month before it all happened, and he hadn’t really gotten to know anyone yet. His parents were dead and he had no siblings, so he was pretty much alone in the world. Well, until now. He had a good feeling about this place, and he told the alpha as much. Kaoru smiled at him, a happy smile that made his usually stern features soft and sweet.

“I’m glad,” he said. “We still have lots of hard work to do before we can relax and feel we’re in the clear, but all the same, I think we’re pretty damn lucky to be here.”

Tatsurou agreed. He had seen enough mayhem on the road to be happy to have a real bed to sleep in, without having to worry about his safety. Just sitting here, idly talking with Kaoru over breakfast, made him feel relaxed and happy. He peered at the alpha and smiled warmly before he took a big bite of his food.

. . . . .

Kaoru winced as the nurse cleaned the wound in his hand, putting in a stitch for safety before bandaging it up.

“So engineers aren’t as good at the actual building as they are at drawing and counting?” he teased. The other alpha’s glare made him chuckle.

“It’s ok you know, we can’t be good at everything,” he said as he finished up, glancing up at Kaoru.

“Maybe not, but we sure need to learn if we’re going to make it out here,” the alpha sighed. It made Tatsurou feel a little bad for teasing him, Kaoru did a good job at the construction of new cottages, and he didn’t want his friend to feel bad.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” he said apologetically. “You’re a vital member of this community, there are more people who can saw and hammer than there are who can calculate the right angle to a roof. Let the grunts do the dirty work,” he grinned, hoping to take the edge of his teasing.

Kaoru huffed at that, looking a little embarrassed. But he couldn’t hide the small grin that appeared, and Tatsurou felt a little proud of himself. The alpha didn’t smile often, which was a pity since he had a very nice smile and an infectious laughter.

“Well, since you’re here, I might as well do your physical if that’s ok?”

Tatsurou had decided to give everyone on the island a checkup, so he knew who to look out for a little extra. Kaoru squirmed a little, but agreed and let the alpha look him over. He looked even more uncomfortable as he was asked to strip down to his underwear, and he was apparently utterly relieved when the nurse declared that everything looked fine and he could get dressed. He was almost out the door when Tatsurou stopped him.

“Not so fast, I want to take your pulse as well. Sit back down, please.”

Kaoru sighed and sat back down on the bed, hesitantly reaching out his arm so that the nurse could grab his wrist. Tatsurou sat down next to the alpha on the bed, pulling Kaoru’s arm towards him and putting it on his thigh for stability before he placed two fingers on the wrist. “Now relax your arm, please,” he said, looking at his watch and counting. He frowned after a minute was passed.

“Your pulse is too high,” he said, looking at Kaoru thoughtfully. “Do you have any heart diseases in your family? Any high blood pressure?”

Kaoru shook his head, looking away, extremely uncomfortable. The nurse frowned again.

“Well, I want to monitor this. You’d better come in once a day for a week at first, and then we’ll see. You have to take care of yourself and make sure you rest. Stay in tomorrow, no working. Nurse’s orders.”

“I’m fine,” the alpha started to protest, but Tatsurou glared at him until he shut his mouth again and looked away. The nurse was just about to give him a lecture on why it was important to rest, when they were interrupted by Uruha, Kai in tow. Uruha’s face had a decidedly green hue, and he barely made it into the room until he had to reach for a bucket in the corner. Kaoru took that as his cue to disappear, and Tatsurou glared after him but turned to the omega instead, helping him sit down before he looked him over.

A few questions and a quick examination later, and he was pretty sure what the problem was. Kai stood next to him, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot, little Shou on his hip.

“Is he gonna be ok?” he asked the nurse, eyes flicking between his mate and Tatsurou. “He’s been puking all morning.”

Tatsurou grinned, looking a bit smug.

“And here I thought you were smart, Kai,” he said. The alpha looked at him, uncomprehending.

“I thought you already had a kid and knew what morning sickness was?” Tatsurou continued, eyeing the two meaningfully. He couldn’t help laughing at Kai’s eyes widening as he realized what the nurse was trying to say.

“You mean… We’re… Another one?” He looked so shocked that Uruha laughed as well.

“Yeah, well, I thought it might be,” the omega said, giggling. “But I wanted to make sure before I said anything, and it was so worth it, just to get to see that face.”

The alpha looked stunned as he stared at his mate. “You knew?” he said, voice almost going up into a falsetto, as he put Shou down and took a step towards his mate.

Uruha smiled widely and stood up gingerly. “So, ready for another one?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at Kai. Two seconds later, he was in his mate’s arms, Kai spinning him around laughing loudly, until Uruha had to stop him and stumbled over to the bucket to throw up again. The alpha apologized profusely, but couldn’t help the ecstatic grin that lit up his face. Tatsurou smiled. When Kai was happy he lit up an entire room with those dimples of his, making everyone around him as happy as he was, and the nurse was sure there would be a huge celebration that evening.

As Uruha got a few good advice on the way, Kai picked up Shou again before the boy wreaked havoc on the nurses tools, and then the two set off to give everyone the good news.

. . . . .

As Tatsurou had thought, an improvised party was held to celebrate that night. They still didn’t have that many vegetables grown, but what little they had, they used, and added in lots of steaks and fish from their hunting and fishing trips. At least food wasn’t a problem yet, Tatsurou thought as he watched everyone congratulate the happy couple. As the evening dwindled, Uruha took Shou and went to their cabin to put him to sleep and get some rest himself. Kai came over to Tatsurou and sat down, chatting happily for a while as people slowly started to wander off to bed.

“So,” Kai said finally, “Kaoru looked a little stressed out when we came by today.”

“Mmm, he had hurt his hand,” Tatsurou said and eyed the alpha across the room. “Do me a favor, will you? Keep an eye on him for me, make sure he doesn’t work too hard? I did his physical today, and I’m worried about his heart.”

“His heart? Why?” Kai looked surprised.

“His pulse was way too high,” Tatsurou said, frowning at the memory.

The alpha’s sudden laughter made him turn in surprise, and he glared at the alpha suspiciously. Kai grinned at him, still chuckling to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Tatsurou demanded, a bit annoyed to be laughed at when he was worried about a patient.

“God, Tatsurou, for a nurse you’re quite dense sometimes, you know that?” Kai grinned and shook his head, getting up from his chair and smirking before he wandered off to chat with Aoi. He left the speechless nurse sitting at the table, staring from Kai to Kaoru and back again. What the hell?

. . . . .

Two days later, they gained two more islanders, the mated couple Hiro and Hiyuu. They were local guys who had wandered around for a bit in the area before they ran into a hunting party in the woods. By now all the cottages were full, and construction on new ones wouldn’t be done until next spring. The alphas assembled to discuss what to do about sleeping arrangements.

Tatsurou had one of the oldest cottages, the windows poorly insulated and the building in need a new roof. It was on the list of things to fix, Toshiya explained, but they hadn’t gotten around to it before he showed up with Miya and Masa. They only had two cottages left empty by then, and naturally, the good one went to the little family.

“It’s not fair to split up a mated couple,” Toshiya said, the others nodding thoughtfully. “But we haven’t got any rooms left that are big enough for two, so I don’t want to have to ask two more omegas to share. Besides, the cottages are bigger than the rooms in the house.”

Die shrugged. “We’re just going to have to start sharing the cottages more. It’s no big deal, Yukke and Aoi is already sharing. I can share with someone, that’s fine.”

“You can stay with me then, Yukihiro’s cabin is smaller than mine and Tatsurou’s is in bad shape. And then Hiro and Hiyuu can take yours,” Toshiya decided.

“I’ve got room in my cottage as well if you’d prefer that one, Die,” Kaoru said, the others glancing at him but no one speaking at first. Then Toshiya smiled one of his crooked smiles.

“Thanks for the offer, Kaoru, but Die and I go way back, right Die?” Die nodded quickly, trying to hide a snicker. “But I don’t think you’ll have to wait long before you get to share as well,” Toshiya continued, with a small grin to his face. Kaoru’s face darkened, his jaws clenched and his eyes shooting arrows at the two as if he was trying to warn them to shut up, but he said nothing.

When they left the meeting it was already evening. Kaoru turned his back and made a quick getaway when Tatsurou was about to ask him if he could borrow an extra blanket, and he sighed and glared after the disappearing back. It didn’t help his annoyance that Kaoru had done his best to avoid his check-ups, working as hard as ever, or that Kai continued to snicker at him every time he saw him but refused to say why.

Tatsurou had taken to keeping an eye on Kaoru from a distance, since he apparently refused to accept help. The alpha seemed fine, at least as long as he was around his friends or working and didn’t think about what he was doing. But every time he noticed Tatsurou watching him he blushed, or looked uncomfortable, or fumbled with something. The alpha did his best to avoid the nurse, and it was beginning to piss him off. He was supposed to do a job here, damn it, and he couldn’t do it if the people who needed his help avoided him.

Fall was coming, and it was getting colder every day. Today was a nasty day, Tatsurou thought, as he walked to his cottage for the night. The winds were picking up and dark rain clouds hung threateningly over the island, mirroring Tatsurou’s mood. He went to bed quickly, shivering a little in the cold. That blanket would have been nice right about now. The winds were getting stronger, and the cottage creaked around him as he tried to get some sleep. After a while he got sick of shivering and went to put on more clothes before he crawled back down under the blankets. Finally warmer, he eventually went to sleep, a pillow over his head to keep at least some of the creaking out.

. . . . .

A huge crash in the middle of the night woke him up, and he was disoriented for a second by wind and rain blowing in on his face, before he realized what had happened. Part of the roof had blown off, a huge hole gaping just over his bed. Swearing to himself, he got out of bed and dragged it away from the hole so it at least wouldn’t get soaked, before he gathered up his blankets, some clothes and his bag. Then he walked out the door and went to bang on the door of the cottage next to his. It was pitch black and raining hard, and he was soaked and freezing by the time the door opened.

“What the hell?” Kaoru rubbed the sleep from his eyes as if he couldn’t believe the sight in front of him. “What’s going on? Is someone hurt?” he asked, suddenly worried.

“Only my c-cottage,” Tatsurou shivered. “C-can I c-come in?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, sorry. Come on in. What’s happened?” The alpha took his things and put them on the table before he went to fetch him a towel.

“M-my roof b-blew off,” Tatsurou stammered, his teeth chattering.

“What?! Oh shit, sorry! We should have fixed that this summer, I’m really sorry. We spent so much time on trying to break new ground for next year’s harvest that we didn’t have time. We figured it’d be empty anyway,” he stuttered, embarrassed.

Tatsurou just waved faintly with his hand to say it was fine, and tried to dry himself off as well as he could with the towel. His clothes stuck to his body, and he was chilled to the bone.

“Here, get those off, you can borrow some dry clothes of mine. I’ll start a fire so you can get warm,” Kaoru said, quickly digging up a pair of pants and a sweater from a drawer and tossing them at Tatsurou, before he turned his back on him and started building a fire in the fireplace.

The nurse gratefully accepted the clothes. He tried to avoid getting water everywhere as he pulled his wet clothes off and dried himself off quickly with the towel again once he was naked. Kaoru was about to get up and turn to him once the fire was lit, but was suddenly beet red and turned his back when he realized Tatsurou was still nude. The alpha grinned a little at how easily embarrassed the other seemed to be, but quickly pulled the dry clothes on to spare Kaoru’s cheeks from burning any more than they had to.

“I’m done,” he announced, smirking a little as he walked up to the fire to warm himself. He held out his hand to the still small flames, trying to get all the heat he could. “God, I’m completely frozen solid from those short moments,” he exclaimed, and couldn’t help teasing Kaoru a little as he lifted his cold fingers and put them on the alpha’s cheek. “Here, feel it!”

The other alpha coiled back from his touch, looking horrified, and Tatsurou frowned at him. Yeah, he was cold, but not enough to warrant that kind of reaction. He wasn’t that bad, was he?

“Shit, Kaoru, what the hell is going on? You’re acting all weird around me, and I’m getting kinda tired of it. So spill. What is it about me that you don’t like?”

Kaoru turned beet red again as he looked down on his hands. “It’s nothing. I mean, there’s nothing I don’t like about you. I mean…” Impossibly, he turned an even darker hue of red as he realized what he had just said.

Something slowly clicked in Tatsurou’s head when he watched the alpha squirm, and he blinked a few times in surprise. “Oh.” It was all he could say, as the cogwheels started turning, and he started to put two and two together. “Oh,” he said again, feeling a little out of breath. God, Kai was right. He was really dense.

Kaoru turned his back on him, swallowing hard as he mumbled, sounding utterly heartbroken. “I can go and sleep in another cottage if you want me to.”

Tatsurou frowned. “Don’t be stupid, this is your cottage. I don’t mind.” He hesitated before he continued, a little softer. “It’s ok, Kaoru. Really.”

Kaoru still looked devastated, shoulders hunching. He glanced at the nurse over his shoulder, his hair falling over his eyes. “You’re not… angry?”

“Of course not. Why would I be? I’m just… a little surprised. And… well… I _really_ don’t mind. If you know what I mean.” He felt himself blushing like a damn teenager, and Kaoru looked confused as hell. No wonder, when he couldn’t just spit it out. _Ok. Here we go._

Tatsurou took a deep breath, and then he leaned forward, quickly pressing his lips to Kaoru’s. The alpha blinked in shock, and Tatsurou was suddenly afraid he’d misunderstood the whole thing. He was about to pull away, when a hand suddenly grabbed the back of his head, tangling in his hair. Kaoru cocked his head a little before he parted his lips and leaned into the kiss.

Tatsurou felt his heart start pounding harder as the kiss deepened. Soon, their tongues were dancing, desperately tasting each other. Tatsurou lifted his hands and put one on Kaoru’s neck, the other snaking in under his t-shirt to caress his side.

Suddenly, the alpha yelped and jumped back from the nurse, leaving a stunned Tatsurou standing with his arm still out. Kaoru’s face turned red again.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “but your fingers are freezing, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

Tatsurou stared at him for a second, and then he burst out laughing. Kaoru chuckled, and soon he too was laughing out loud. When the laughter finally died down, they were a lot less stressed and tense, Kaoru looking a little more sure of himself now that he knew Tatsurou wasn’t completely against the idea.

“Let’s get you warm first,” he said, smiling, before he fetched some warm blankets and spread them out on the floor in front of the fire, motioning at them. “Here, sit. I’ll make you tea.”

Tatsurou gingerly sat down, pulling a blanket around his shoulders, enjoying the warmth of the fire as he watched in silence while the other alpha fetched a pot, poured some water in it and put it on a hook over the fire. He fetched two mugs and, miraculously, a tea bag to share, and poured the water once it was hot. Then he sat down next to Tatsurou who took the offered mug gingerly, drinking the warm tea slowly as he felt himself heat up. He shrugged the blanket off after a while, and it was only then that Kaoru broke the silence.

“Warm?” he asked.

“Mmmmm. Finally. This is amazing, thank you so much.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help.” Kaoru sat silent for a moment, trying to find the right words.

“So, that… thing we started…” Tatsurou made a humming sound as he turned his head to look at the alpha, waiting for him to continue.

“Well, I was just wondering. What was it really? To you, I mean?”

Tatsurou watched the alpha’s cheeks turn red again, as he fidgeted with his mug and gazed very intently into the warm liquid. He looked into the fire for a moment, thinking his answer through properly before he answered. Kaoru got more and more nervous the longer he waited, and he almost flinched when Tatsurou opened his mouth to speak.

“I’m kind of stupid. I mean, I should have realized sooner how you felt. But I was kind of caught up in everything that was new here, and I just… I guess I didn’t stop to think. But I like you, Kaoru. I really do. I’m not in love, not yet, but I can definitely see myself falling hard for you in time. And I must admit I’ve been attracted to you from the start. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I can’t make any promises right now, but that I feel good about our chances. And I can honestly say I would never hurt you deliberately or play with your feelings. If you feel it would be too difficult to handle if it doesn’t work out, then maybe we shouldn’t do this. But if you’re up for it and are willing to take a chance on me, I’m willing to give it a try.”

Silence met his words, and he waited patiently for Kaoru to gather his thoughts and decide what he wanted to do. They sat for a long time, looking into the fire that was slowly dying down, lost in their own thoughts. Then, suddenly, Tatsurou felt fingers softly caress along his arm, and as he turned his head to the alpha, he was met with hot lips against his.

The kisses were tender, slow and sweet for a while, as they gently explored each other with mouths and hands. Tatsurou felt Kaoru gently push him down on the blankets, and in the warm, low light from the dying fire he saw his new lover’s face, eyes intently focused on his own. Kaoru leaned down over him and resumed the hot kisses. And god, could he kiss. Tatsurou felt himself glad that he was lying down, so he could hide how weak he felt when the alpha let his mouth plunder his, as hands roamed over his body.

He raised his hands and gently let them caress their way underneath the other’s shirt, pulling at it to get it off. Kaoru let him slip the garment over his head and bit his lip, gasping as Tatsurou let his hands feel the skin beneath it. It felt new and exciting under his touch. He pulled the alpha down and let his tongue get a taste of the skin by the collarbones, and Kaoru groaned, closing his eyes for a second.

Tatsurou let his eyes feast on the alpha’s body, firm and nice with defined muscles. He let his tongue trace over some of those beautiful tattoos, but soon got cut short as the alpha decided he didn’t want to be the only one who was shirtless. Soon, they were both in a state of undress, and it didn’t take long before they had kicked off the last of the clothing and lay completely naked, skin pressed against skin.

Kaoru kissed Tatsurou’s neck and slowly worked his way down the collarbones, all the while caressing the other’s nipples. Tatsurou moaned as Kaoru worked his way back up to suck his earlobe into his mouth and tug gently. Soon they were back to their wild kisses, pressing their groins together and rubbing their cocks against each other’s while they moaned lewdly.

Kaoru slipped his hand down between their bodies and put it around both of their erections, stroking gently. Tatsurou groaned and bucked his hips, wrapping his arms around the alpha, putting a hand on Kaoru’s ass and grabbing a butt cheek firmly. When his lover started stroking them faster and rougher, he threw his head back and panted harshly, Kaoru’s hot kisses on his neck driving him absolutely crazy.

It didn’t take them long to finish, cumming together, groaning as they felt the white and sticky mess smear their stomachs. Kaoru lay down next to Tatsurou, panting, throwing an arm around the other alpha and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. Tatsurou turned on his side to face his lover, kissing him and pulling him into a hug. They lay like that for a while as their breaths slowed.

“Maybe we should dry off and move to the bed,” Kaoru mumbled, a little sleepily. He got a tired murmur in reply, and they dragged themselves off the floor, Kaoru drying the cum off their stomachs with the towel before they grabbed the blankets from the floor and crawled into bed together. They fell asleep quickly, Tatsurou spooning Kaoru, his arm around the alpha’s chest.

. . . . .

The next morning they went out to assess the damage to Tatsurou’s cottage. The roof was completely ruined. A big chunk had blown off and lay in pieces on the field behind the cottage. The others came by to watch as word got around, and Toshiya apologized to the nurse several times until Tatsurou had to tell him to stop.

“Well, you can’t sleep there anymore, that’s for sure,” Toshiya said over breakfast, Die, Kaoru, Kai, Asanao and Tatsurou sitting around the table.

“He can stay with me,” Kaoru immediately said. “If he wants to, that is,” he added somewhat more nervously.

“Sure, that’s fine by me,” the nurse smiled. In the corner of his eye he saw several of the others smirk and eye each other knowingly. As he turned his head to Kai, the alpha grinned at him, his eyes glittering.

“Yeah yeah, you were right,” Tatsurou laughed, shaking his head at the alpha. “I was dense. But I’m smarter now, and that counts for something, right?”

Kai nodded happily, and as Tatsurou glanced over at Kaoru, he was met with a smile that made his heart feel suddenly warm and his knees go a little weak.


End file.
